Spider-Man: The Animated Series Episode Twenty-Seven: Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter 14 - The Final Nightmare

The Final Nightmare

First Aired: February 24th, 1996

Synopsis: The aged Spider-Man manages to escape from Vulture when there's a secondary explosion at the latter's penthouse which distracts him. Spider-Man manages to make his way home, but is weakened and needs to take a bus home after unmasking. At the same time, Vulture attacks Norman Osborn's helicopter and manages to get Osborn on his own, only for Vulture to unexpectedly mutate into the Man-Spider, allowing Osborn to escape. Back at home, Peter still hasn't returned to his normal age, and so he calls up Professor Connors for help. Connors tells him to come to his lab the next day and he'll see what he can do. Shortly afterwards Vulture, youthful again, goes to Connors himself and says that he needs help returning to normal, since he's alternating between being Man-Spider and himself. Connors realises that when Vulture absorbed Spider-Man's youth, he also absorbed the DNA responsible for the mutation. They're interrupted by Scorpion, who's kidnapped his creator Farley Stillwell, and wants to use neogenics to return to normal. Scorpion and Vulture fight before realising that they can work together.

Before going to Connors, the geriatric Peter Parker goes to Mary Jane's house to deliver a note saying he can't be there when she meets her father. She encounters him and he runs away in a hurry. As Spider-Man, he goes to Connors' lab but is ambushed by Vulture and Scorpion. Connors modifies Vulture's age-sapping technology so that Spider-Man will get the mutated DNA back, but when Vulture uses it on Spider-Man, all that happens is that they return to their rightful ages, while Vulture turns back into Man-Spider. Spider-Man and Scorpion fight, but while they do so Stillwell alters the neogenic recombinator so that it explodes, not wanting more monsters like Scorpion to be created. Spider-Man, Connors, and Stillwell escape, and while Connors says that he needs neogenic research to cure himself of mutating into the Lizard, Stillwell says he'll have to do it on his own. On a brighter note, Connors confirms that with the mutated DNA in Vulture Spider-Man will never turn into Man-Spider again. Afterwards, Peter goes to meet Mary Jane's father with her, but is late and sees them disappear around a corner. When he goes around it himself, they've disappeared.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Norman Osborn jumping out of a helicopter and putting on a parachute like a total badass? What does that remind me of?
• After the climax is over, Scorpion, in the ruins of the lab, realises that he's lost all chance at being human again. So dramatic is this revelation that he spends a whole five seconds repeating the word "no".
• When Peter's aged up in the episode, he looks to be in the sixties to seventies age range (Aunt May certainly seems to think that he's a contemporary). I mention this because when he goes to give Mary Jane his note, she thinks that this aging geriatric who she's never seen before must be her father. Talk about issues!

Review: Overall I'd probably lean towards this episode being more good than bad, although there are some awkward and kind of dodgy moments in it. Probably my biggest complaint is how it fits into the grand scheme of this season's arc - while I'm glad that Spider-Man's mutating DNA is finally fixed, and the manner in which it's fixed makes sense in a comic book science way, there's definitely a feel that the only reason he wasn't fully cured post-Man-Spider was so that this episode could have Vulture mutating. I mean, it's not like we've had any episodes where there's been a real risk of him returning to being Man-Spider, is there?

I'm also not really sure what to make of the ending. Is Mary Jane's father supposed to be some mysterious figure that made them disappear, or is the episode just being overly dramatic so that Peter can't be happy? I suppose we'll find out next episode, but for now it's kind of confusing.

Like I said though, I'd lean towards this episode being good overall. Peter being treated so kindly when everyone thinks that he's a senior citizen is oddly heartwarming, and while I initially thought that Scorpion being introduced into the episode would be an awkward fit, his motivations make sense and he works well as muscle. Stillwell saying that he won't help cure Connors is also a great dramatic moment - more dramatic than Mary Jane and her father's disappearing act, in fact. Come to think of it, if things had been shuffled around a bit, that could have made for a fantastic final moment, but oh well.